


In Music's Way

by photography_tea



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-13 02:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4504785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/photography_tea/pseuds/photography_tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tokiya finds it upon himself his true feelings, and from there it goes on a rollercoaster of him trying to figure out his own answers, as well as what he truly wants</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Music's Way

**Author's Note:**

> First AO3 fanfic, so I'm excited to use this haha. I got some inspiration from watching the anime and reading the game summaries(which hopefully can see an English release soon), so I hope this turns out well. 
> 
> Small Warnings are minimal use of language, and fluff, etc as well some moments to really pull your heartstrings. I plan to make this a multi-chapter work, so later chapters will reveal the mature rating. Otherwise, enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokiya ends up being proposed "sick", while the gang uses this as an opportunity for Nanami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue heavy, sorry, please bear with me, explaining and laying out everything first is what I aimed to do. Not much action just yet as it's just started haha

He wanted nothing more than to be engrossed in his music. But at that moment, at that time, he could think of nothing but her. It was only just an ordinary day with business as usual with the gang, they were all currently working out together the choreography for their next music video. Ever since the popularity of Starish skyrocketed, Saotome decided on putting more projects on the team, which led to more work, but it was still fun, nonetheless. 

Nanami, of course, wanted to contribute, which led to her in taking part with the storyboards for the music videos, making sure everything was in order and approved and ready to go for them. They were her boys, and her theirs, and for awhile, Tokiya was alright with that. In the beginning when they had to choose partners back in high school, he did admit, he was only a little(just a little) upset that she didn't choose just him, but all of them. Of course they were all friends...but Nanami was different. She was the only thing that he did not want to share. 

The deal she made with them honestly wasn't a bad one. In all, it was a win-win situation for all of them, but Tokiya sorted out his feelings as him just wanting to conquer the rest in being the best with her. The music she wrote was astounding, and to her songs being only dedicated to him would have made him feel special. When she wrote individual songs for all of them, the feeling would come fleetingly to only become stampened in the end. 

Tokiya came to terms that not only him, but all of Starish had a special place in her heart. To her, he was only the same as the rest of them, good friends, good co-workers, but nothing more than that. 

He was fine with it. He really had no idea what led him to feel that in the first place, but it had no matter to him, anyway, as long as he could still work with her. 

She was sitting at the piano playing their recent song, smiling happily as she played. Tokiya would glance at her from time to time, drawn in to her. Her smile was beautiful, he always wanted her to smile, and he wanted that smile to be his. He wanted to be the one that made her smile. But it was all of Starish that did. 

These thoughts had been coming in for awhile now, a long long time before, but he pushed them down, opting to ignore it in place of thinking about how to better himself and his schedule. The life of a popstar was awfully busy, after all. 

How long could he keep at ignoring them, he wondered. How long until it drove him insane that is. 

"Tokiyaa! Are you still here?" Otoya shouted in his ear. 

Tokiya jumped with a start, and tumbled to the floor."Don't shout in my ear, Otoya." he said, cupping his right ear with his hand and glaring at him.

"Sorry, sorry. But it looked like you zoned out for a second there. It's rare to see you out of it, especially during practice." Otoya knelt down in front of him and peered into his face. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Ichinose-san..." she said, worried. 

His eyes reflexively looked towards her and their eyes suddenly locked. 

She was worried about him...he felt warm inside in thinking of the idea of her fretting and making a fuss over him, just because she cared.

"...." Tokiya grew more nervous as he continued to look at her and closed his eyes and turned away from her. 

"Ichi, your face is getting red." Jinguji pointed out. 

"I'm feeling fine. Let's get back to where we were." Tokiya interrupted abruptly before hastily trying to get up before he felt a hand to his forehead. 

"Ichinose-san, you feel really hot! Are you sure your feeling okay?" Nanami suddenly appeared, kneeling directly in front of him with a worried expression on her face. Why him....

"Could he have a fever?" Masato asked. 

"I told you I'm feeling alright. I apologize for interrupting, but the choreography still needs work." he grabbed Nanami's wrist away from him as he stood up. 

"If your not feeling okay, I think its best for you to rest. We can't make you work if your not feeling good." Natsuki perked up.

"Actually..." Syo trailed off with a grin on his face. 

"I agree with Shinomiya. Continuing to work will only worsen the effects. This could affect his overall performance in practice as well." Masato inputted. 

"I'll make sure to take good care of you, Tokiya!" Otoya cheerfully said, putting an arm around his shoulders. 

"I will make you some of my homemade porridge! It'll help you get better in no time." Natsuki's glasses glinted. 

"I'll be done for if all of you took care of me." Tokiya sighed. 

"Are you saying you don't trust us?" Cecil said. 

"All of you are the last people I would trust as caretakers!" 

"How mean! I'm sure Nanami would do a good job." Syo rebutted. 

"Nanami as my caretaker while sick...that'd be interesting." Jinguji smirked. "I'd fall head over heels for you all over again, lady." he winked at her. 

"Patient falling in love with the nurse...the roles are reversed." Syo sighed in indignation, while Masato glared at him. 

"All I'm saying is that its a nice thought, yeah?" Jinguji laughed.

"J-Jinguji-san!" Nanami couldn't help a little blush at his words. 

"It's okay, lady. I was only kidding...partly." 

"Jinguji..." Masato's gaze felt like it was burning him alive. 

"No need to be so scary, Masa..."

Attention diverted to the person still in front of her, Nanami stood up from her place on the floor and faced Tokiya. "Ichinose-san, if you wouldn't mind, I would be able to take care of you." Her eyes filled with determination as she looked up at him.

She was so short compared to him, and the way she was looking at him....he couldn't help but soften his gaze the tiniest bit. But, her offer...he wasn't really sick, he couldn't just keep making himself blush to keep the act. Deceiving her on top of all that also didn't sit quite well with him, despite the fact that it was a window of opportunity for him.

He smiled slightly as he looked back at her. "I'm alright. No need to worry." 

"HEY, HEY, HEY." Syo rushed closer to him as he put a hand to his shoulder and leaned to whisper, "Tokiya, how could you refuse an offer from Nanami? Especially when your sick and need it to recover your stubborn head."

"Hey..." Tokiya narrowed his gaze on him.

"I agree with Syo, Tokiya-kun!" Natsuki said brightly, suddenly appearing in their conversation bubble as they formed a huddle.

"Hey, who asked you to butt in here?" Syo said, slightly irritated.

"I was curious and decided to come over!" Natsuki said with a bright smile. 

"Same as us!" Otoya popped in as well as the other guys.

"Why are you all here..." Tokiya sighed.

"Ichi, you understand your position now, don't you? Your sick, and the lady is willing to take care of you. Don't you think that's a pretty good deal?" a cheshire grin spread out across Jinguji's face. 

"I have no idea what you could mean." Tokiya tried to feign ignorance. 

"As if you don't know what I mean." 

"Tokiya, your so lucky! I wish I was the one who was sick now..." Otoya said glumly.

"You guys..." Masato glared at all of them.

"Oh, don't pretend you wish you could be in the same boat, Masa. We all wish we could be." Jinguji playfully said.

"For the most part, Haru-chan seems best to take care of you than the all of us would." Natsuki pointed out. 

"You better watch what you do..." Cecil huffed. 

"Nanami doesn't belong to you either, you know!" Syo yelled.

"She belongs to all of us." Jinguji corrected.

"Unless Tokiya decides to make his move already, that is." he continued.

"I'm not like any of you. I regard Nanami-san as our composer, but nothing more." Tokiya spoke out against him.

"Really..." they all looked at him suspiciously. 

"Let's test out this theory, shall we?" Jinguji grinned. Not good.

"What are you saying?" Syo, suspicious of his next words.

"I'm saying, if Ichi can get to her before any of us can. He has his opportunity, but now we also do too." Jinguji explained.

"How so?" Cecil asked as he frowned.

"It gives us an incentive to try and steal her away from him. If she starts falling for him, we could divert her attention to us, instead." 

"That's dirty!" Syo said, angry at his words. "How could you even think of that?"

"Jinguji, what are you planning?" Masato said, not as happy with where this discussion was going. 

"We all knew this day was coming, that she might just like either one of us, so I'm saying the timing right now is perfect." Jinguji eyes twinkled as he turned his head briefly to look at Nanami, who was still standing there, curious as to what they were saying, as he turned his head back to the rest of them. 

"Turning it into a game, though..." Natsuki frowned.

"I'll do anything to have Haruka." Cecil announced, determined. 

"Don't tell me your actually agreeing to this whole thing..." Syo looked at him in astonishment.

"I'm not agreeing with how Jinguji's putting it, but I'm certain that Haruka would choose me, and I'll prove it." Cecil said. 

"Haru-chan is not a game we should be making out of, or a toy to be played with!" Natsuki exclaimed.

"Natsuki..." Syo turned to look at him. 

"But I do believe that we should all have our chance if we all want to be with her, so I'll put my hat in the ring!" Natsuki grabbed Syo's hat as he left it lying on the floor for practice, and slammed it in the center of the group.

"Be careful with that!" Syo yelled at him. 

"Anyway though...if it's going to be like that, I don't want to sit here and watch you all come on to her like that. So, I guess I'm in." Syo said, slightly blushing as he did.

"Otoya? You?" Jinguji asked him next.

"I don't want to give up my chances on Nanami either if all of you are going for it." Otoya took a deep breath for continuing. "So, I'm in, too." 

"Ooh, I'm starting to like that look in your eyes, now. All that's left is Masa, unless your choosing to opt out. I'm sure we won't mind, having one less competitor and all." Jinguji egged him on. Tokiya knew he was purposefully saying that to spite him.

Masa twitched at his words. "I have no intention on leaving Nanami alone when all of you will be onto her. I will protect her." 

Jinguji clapped his hands together. "And in Masa's terms, that means he's in it, too! Now that everyone's in, we should establish some ground rules." 

What in the world were these guys thinking and why were they all going along with it. Tokiya knew this definitely wasn't going to end well.

"I think first thing is, whoever gets to lady first, is basically the winner. Who she chooses goes, and is the lucky man." Jinguji continued as they all nodded. Before moving on, he looked at Tokiya. 

"Ichi, you are listening, right?" 

All he could do was silently nod. It didn't seem like there was any use getting out of it, anyway. And with everyone fired up, he as well could lose his own chance. It was a now or never sort of predicament, one that he as well did not want to lose, especially to the others. Nanami deserved better than them, really. 

"Good." Jinguji smiled at him before moving on. "Next, I'm sure all of you know this, but absolutely no telling the lady what we're up to."

"Whatever one person does, is fair game. This is a pretty big love heptagon, so it'll be all tough if we set rules on what not to do, except the obvious."

"Wait, wait, wait, what about the 'no love allowed' rule? I don't want to know what might happen if Saotome all saw what we were up to." Syo inquired.

"Then, I suppose we'll just have to be secretive about it. A secret romance, that makes things more interesting, doesn't it?" Jinguji answered coolly. 

"Your having too much fun with this already..." Syo said.

"Lastly, rules will be added if needed. Are we all in agreement?" he looked at all of them. They all nodded their heads.

He smirked. "Then let the best man win."

"You'll be the best man at my wedding when I win over Haru-chan!" Natsuki happily said back.

"Whoa, Natsuki, all fired up, are we?" Jinguji said, surprised at his statement.

"Haru-chan is someone I don't want to lose." he just smiled back at him.

"I won't lose Nanami to you, Natsuki. Even if you are my friend." Syo, determined as well, said.

"I wasn't expecting you to hold back, Syo-kun." 

"Haruka will be mine." Cecil huffed.

"How surprising it would be if she actually chose one of you." Masa retorted. 

"Now, now, Masa! We all know you want her, too!" Otoya chuckled.

"!" Masa could only look at him, to only immediately look away from him as he felt heat rise to his cheeks.

"He got you, huh?" Jinguji laughed.

"Who asked you..." he glared back.

"The famous Masa glare...I'll be seeing that more often when I have lady's heart." 

"Anyway, Ichi, you haven't said one word throughout this. Maybe your too sick to even play?" Jinguji turned to him.

Tokiya had no idea what to think. This, suddenly popping up out of the blue, when he thought and blushed over Nanami and thought to be sick instead, just sprung on him. What in the world were his friends doing? But...he definitely did not want to see another man flirting with her, much less actually making her fall for them. It would be the end. And he couldn't have that.

But, how in the world was he going to keep this act up? He was a good actor, sure, great even, but he couldn't act sick forever. What excuse would he have then, to talk to her?

He decided that he could probably figure it all out later, and, for now, just go with flow.

"I think I'm just feeling a little tired." he said nonchalantly.

"Well, I think this ends our little meeting and time to get Ichi to bed then." Jinguji called out loudly.

"Ichinose-san, I can help you!" Nanami perked up.

"You don't have t-" Tokiya started saying before he felt a little tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

"If you're not feeling well...you shouldn't push yourself. Refusing help and not taking care of yourself will only make you worse. So, please...?" she asked timidly.

He could only sigh at her words. Seems like he'll be starting off with her first then.

"I guess it can't be helped." he sighed with resignation.

She smiled at his words. "Then, I'll lend you my shoulder. You're tired from practice, so exerting more energy won't be good."

"...." he hesitated a bit before swiftly draping an arm around her shoulder, his head leaning slightly towards hers. He was close enough that they were practically touching side by side, and he couldn't help but feel a bolt of electricity. For some reason. It was an odd feeling.

"W-we're going then!" Nanami stammered at his sudden acceptance to his offer as she said her good nights to the guys and left the room.

"...." It was quiet in the room after the pair had left before Syo broke the silence.

"Tokiya's good, isn't he?"

They all agreed.

~Tokiya's Room

As they reached his room, he was relieved that his room was at least neat for her to step into. She opened the door for him as they both stepped inside, and she lead him toward the bed as he sat down on it. 

"Well, I'll check on you from time to time, so please rest for now, Ichinose-san." she smiled at him as she headed for the door. 

"Right..." he could only say as he watched her go. Was...that it? They were finally alone together, with the group nowhere to be found. Should he do something?

What could he possibly due to keep her to stay though? 

"Ah!" a sudden shriek from Nanami caused him to wake up from his thoughts as he saw just in time to see her trip over her own feet. She was trying to right herself again, but to no avail-

She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact about to come, but saw it never come. She slowly opened her eyes, to feel the sudden warmth that enveloped her. 

Tokiya had rushed over and caught her just in time, to only have him practically back hugging her. 

"...Are you okay?" he whispered into her ear. Being against each other like this, it felt nice, he add to admit. Crap it all.

"Y-yes. Thank you. But, Ichinose-san, are you alright? You moving around while your sick." she stammered back to his question. She could feel his breath on her ear and she involuntarily jolted, and she hoped she wouldn't notice, despite their current state. 

He did, of course, and in return, felt a jolt of electricity running through him again for the second time that night, in response to it. 

"Sorry, you can let go of me, now, please return to bed!" she put her hands to his arms wrapped around her in a desperate attempt to escape out of nervousness, to only feel his arms hold grow tighter on her. 

It was an automatic reaction, the thought of her wanting to leave. Did she not like it?

They both stayed silent, until Nanami spoke up again, "Ichinose-san, are you alright...?" the possible thought that he could've fallen to sleep on her was valid, she thought. 

She turned to look over at him, but in his current state, he did not want her looking at his face right now, so he hurriedly turned his face away, only to make her wiggle more against him, making him loosen his grip on her, which made her, who was leaning towards him, lose her balance again, and startled by the sudden movement, started tumbling towards him this time. 

"Nanami-" he started to right both of them back up again, but it was too late. 

"Ichin- ahh!" 

They both fell harshly down on the floor with a loud thud. 

"Ow..." Tokiya cringed. But was even more painful than their crash was the position they were now in. He saw her in his sights before him, her eyes closed and her laying on top of him. He smelled her scent strongly before, and it was starting to grow too much for him.

He saw her slowly open her eyes again and was about to say something to her when they both heard a loud "crack!" from outside. 

They both froze on the spot and all Tokiya could think that it was all over if that was Saotome. He gulped and turned his head towards the window.


End file.
